Free Hyrule
by Da Guy
Summary: Hyrule is slipping into chaos as terror orginazation destroys Hyrule's leadership. A boy has been found who can help, but will he? This new chapter is more romantic then the last. Please R
1. Default Chapter

This is my second Zelda fic. It has names and stuff from my first one, but you can still understand it without previous knowledge. I don't any of the ideas from Zelda, just enjoy writing about them. Prologue's rather short, but o well. Please read and review. Enjoy.  
  
Prologue  
  
It has been twenty years since the wedding of Zelda and Link. Things are finally peaceful again in Hyrule. With Saruk and his evil armies stopped and King Link and Queen Zelda ruling Hyrule, peace and prosperity has finally returned to the land…almost.  
  
A terror group calling themselves Free Hyrule has sprouted from the chaos of the war against Saruk and has sworn to destroy Hyrule's "corrupt" leaders and restore "freedom" to the land. Led by a cunning and evil man named Bintrel, they have already claimed the lives of many of Hyrule's leader, including the Zora King. Not even the famed Hero of Time can stop the murders that Free Hyrule commits. With their leaders gone, the people of Hyrule will once again slip into the chaos that Zelda's father united them from.  
  
A small beam of hope for stopping this arises when a boy is found who knows Free Hyrule's plans and their leader. With the knowledge he has, he could stop the terror and once again bring total peace to Hyrule. But will he? 


	2. The Incident on the road

Here's the first chapter of the story. The names are pretty bad so please excuse them. I don't own any of the stuff as usual. Hope you enjoy. Please read and review.  
  
The Incident on the road  
  
Princess Zira gave out a sigh as she rode in the wagon on the way to Lake Hylia were she and her handmaidens would enjoy a nice week away from the castle. She breathed in the fresh air of Hyrule field as her handmaidens excitedly talked about their coming vacation.  
  
"It's going to be wonderful," Zira finally said with a smile. "The land around there is so pretty and there is so much to do."  
  
"It's not the scenery I'm thinking about," said Zira's closest handmaiden and friend, "it's the guys at that new city there."  
  
"Well Kuria," said one of the other handmaidens, "you're going to be disappointed 'cause none of them are going to care about you." Everybody in the cart laughed. Zira gave a sigh and stretched her arms. It was so nice to be away from the castle for once. It was her parent's idea for this vacation to happen. They wanted her in a safe place so that the brutal Free Hyrule would not assassinate her.  
  
Suddenly there came a rap on the door to the front of the cart. Kuria opened it to see a Hylian soldier. He bowed his head to the princess, but she just waved the action off.  
  
"I'm sorry my lady, but it is getting to dark to travel on this part of the road. It is far too rocky to safely navigate in the dark. We are forced to camp here for the night. Zira nodded and smiled at the guard. She didn't like the sound of this at all. The roads in Hyrule field had always been well kept, even in the time of Ganondorf. Why would they be rocky enough to stop a cart in the dark now? Something warned her not to get out of the cart, but she did anyway.  
  
Outside the sun was slowly sinking out of view. Zira immediately saw what the guard meant. There were several sharp rocks pointing out of the ground that would not be visible in the dark. She once again nudged off the feeling of danger that seemed to fill the air. She walked over to a small pond were her handmaidens, her friends were washing their faces. Zira walked over and did the same. As she bent down to scoop up some water, a hand grabbed the back of her dress and pulled her down into the water. She resurfaced to hear the sounds of laughter coming from the handmaidens. She joined in as she pushed a strand of her black hair out of her eyes. She climbed up out the pond, sat down on the ground, and laughed.  
  
Then with a swift sudden movement, she kicked and tripped Kuria, the obvious offender. The stunned girl slid down the grass and into the pond more laughter rose from the bunch. Then they all started throwing each other into the pool of water. The guards, finishing the setting up of tents came running to find out what the disturbance was. They observed the amusing scene with smiles on their faces.  
  
Another pair of eyes was watching the girls have a water fight that nobody knew about. He fitted an arrow onto his bow and pulled back the cord. The boy who held the bow decided not to fire. It was to early yet. He waited in silence for about half an hour more. Then he got his chance to kill the princess when no one was around. She was taking a walk all by herself.  
  
The boy pulled back on the string and lined up the shot on Zira's neck. Zira turned and the boy got a look at it for the first time. He saw her beautiful face and hesitated to shoot. He crouched there for a brief moment, struggling with himself about whether to shoot her or not. He gave out a growl and shot the arrow.  
  
Zira turned as she heard the growl. An arrow whizzed by her head, missing her by no more then an inch. She was about to scream for the soldiers when a boy wearing a black robe, and of about sixteen emerged from the bush holding a bow. He held up his hands in surrender.  
  
"I surrender," he said calmly as he dropped the bow. He then sat down on the ground and stayed there.  
  
"Guards!" Zira called out as loud as she could as she slowly backed away from the young man sitting in front of her. She bent down and picked up a rock, never taking her eyes of him. "Guards," she shouted again. To guards came running toward her, their spears in hand.  
  
"What your highness," said one of the Hylian soldiers. "What is wrong?" Zira pointed toward the now smiling boy. The man's face turned to bewilderment as he saw the boy sitting there for the first time. "Arrest him," he said turning toward the other guard. The two tied him up and dragged him back to the camp. Zira followed them, looking into the night as if another archer would appear and kill her.  
  
The girls sat quietly around a campfire as the soldiers patrolled the perimeter of the camp. The boy sat by himself about ten feet away. Princess Zira had allowed him to be untied and unguarded on the basis that he had purposefully missed his shot. After a brief interrogation, they learned that his name was Jarce and he was sent by free Hyrule to assassinate the princess. He wouldn't tell them anymore.  
  
"What kind of mint do Free Hyrule members like to eat the best?" Kuria asked with a smile.  
  
"I don't know," replied one of the handmaidens.  
  
"Spear mint," laughed Kuria. The other girls laughed to at the pure stupidity of the joke. Jarce just sat there and did nothing.  
  
"Leave him alone," said Zira as she walked up to the campfire. She gave a long look at the boy crouching and shivering from the night's chilled air. "He didn't do anything to us."  
  
"Didn't do anything to us!" Kuria exclaimed as she bolted up. "That thing nearly killed you. His organization has been behind twelve assassinations. And you say he didn't do anything. That boy should have his head in a basket."  
  
"You can't condemn somebody when you don't even know the whole story Kuria," Zira retorted.  
  
"What's there to know?" Kuria spat back. Then her face softened up and tears began to form in her eyes. "Those brutes killed Carb," she said quietly. With that she stormed off into her tent. Some of the other handmaidens went to follow her. Eventually everyone was in bed except Zira and the guards. One of the two had now returned.  
  
"It is late and you should sleep, your highness," said the soldier. "This boy should not be left unguarded while you sleep. With your permission, I'll watch him tonight." Zira nodded and went into her tent.  
  
It was late at night and Jarce was shivering under his black robe. A small rain had fallen earlier in the night, making the ground wet and cold. The guard was fast asleep under a blanket of cow skin. Suddenly a noise from the tents caught his attention. Princess Zira emerged out of one of them dressed in a nightgown and holding another blanket. She walked over and sat down beside him.  
  
"Hi," she said as she gave him the blanket. He quickly wrapped it around his shivering body and began to warm up.  
  
"Thank you," he said as he sat up and pulled his knees to his chest. They sat together in silence for a little bit, starring at the cloudy sky. Finally, Jarce spoke up. "Who was Carb?" he asked.  
  
"If you're talking about the one Kuria mentioned, he was my brother. Free Hyrule assassinated him one night because he was the heir to the throne."  
  
"Oh," Jarce said briefly. This was followed by another silence. "Why was Kuria so upset about it?"  
  
"Because they were going to get married the next day," Zira replied. Jarce looked down at the ground for a long time. Finally, he looked up again.  
  
"Damn it," he said quietly to himself. "How did I ever get mixed up with these people."  
  
"If you're so upset about it help us defeat them," Zira said angrily.  
  
"I can't," he said quietly. He then looked at the beautiful princess. For a moment, they both just stared at each other. Then their heads came together and they kissed.  
  
"Princess Zira!" the guard screamed as he woke up. "What are you doing?"  
  
"None of your business," the princess said coldly as she stormed off into her tent. Then the guard went and spat at Jarce.  
  
"It's not right for a princess to be kissing a thing like you." 


	3. Ambush at Lke Town

This is the third chapter of my story. Sorry it took so long if anybody cares. Please R&R. I don't own Zelda or it's characters or anything else.  
  
Ambush at Lake Town  
  
The next morning was a cold and dreary one. A strong wind sent cold rain whipping into the travelers faces as they took down their tents. Princess Zira was off to the side talking to the soldier in charge of her escort unit, along with Jarce.  
  
"Your highness," the guard captain began, "we cannot possibly go to the lake with this prisoner, especially with the threat of assassins to deal with. I suggest we head back to the castle immediately."  
  
"I did not travel all of this way for nothing," Zira replied. "I told my handmaidens that we were going on vacation and that is what we are doing." She then gestured to Jarce. "He is coming with us too."  
  
"I wouldn't recommend your plan," Jarce said.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Zira questioned as she glared into the boys green eyes. He shrugged back as if he had no idea why he said his earlier comment.  
  
"All the more reason we go back to the castle immediately," cut in the soldier. "I don't trust this boy one bit. I have a feeling he is trying to set us up for something bigger than what we thought."  
  
"You people are so stupid," Jarce said while shaking his head and smiling. "Why would I bring you guys into something bigger when I had the perfect opportunity to kill the princess here. She's the only one they want. Even if we did want to get all of you, we would have done it here, not in the middle of a town."  
  
"He's got a point," Zira cut in. "But that still doesn't explain why he said what he said. And we're still going to Lake Town. He's coming with us too, without bonds." She than walked away.  
  
"Princess Zira," the soldier called out to her in protest, but the princess was already gone. The guard looked upon Jarce with distain written all over his face and walked away to help with the taking down of the tents.  
  
The rest of the ride to Lake Hylia went undisturbed. Jarce sat up front with the soldiers, while Zira and her handmaidens chatted quietly in the back. They traveled in nice weather. The clouds from the rain had now moved past Death Mountain and the sun was shining brightly. The group reached the lake by midday.  
  
When they arrived, the lake was peaceful. The newly founded Lake Town sat on the side of the lake opposite to them. They traveled along the road toward the town a half hour.  
  
"I'm hungry," Zira said to the head soldier as she held her stomach. "Lets stop here to eat."  
  
"I highly advise against it," the soldier began, but Zira was already out of the cart. "Wait," the guard said as he ran out of the cart. He ran in front of her just in time. An arrow shot out of a nearby bush, but was blocked from its intended target by the soldier. Unfortunately for the Hylian soldier, the arrow struck the back of his skull and buried itself into his brain, killing him instantly. Zira stood there in shock for a moment as the dead warrior fell to the grassy ground before she screamed. By this time the rest of the companions had gotten out of the cart, yet had not seen the life taking arrow shoot. When they scrambled to Zira after her scream, both soldier and handmaiden alike were slew by arrows from other bushes. Jarce grabbed Zira and shoved her under the cart. He then got a bow out of the cart and fired an arrow at the bush the first arrow was shot from. A scream was heard as the arrow struck its target, killing the man behind it. By this time only he, Zira, and Kuria were left alive. Kuria joined Zira under the cart while Jarce continued to shoot blindly into the bushes, hoping to hit the group's assailants. After a minute of intense arrow-to-arrow combat, the firing from the bushes stopped. Jarce sat with his back to the cart for a brief moment, breathing heavily. Suddenly three of the skeleton resembling Stalfos sprouted out of the ground in front of Jarce. The lead one stabbed at the teenage boy, but he caught it in between the bow and it's cord. Then he twisted the cord around the sword, and pulled. The blade cut the bow's string, but the move managed to rip the sword out of the Stafos's hand. Jarce picked up the gleaming red sword, and swung. The Stalfos brought up its crude circular shield, but it was to late. The curvy blade struck the skeleton resembling monster, shattering it. The bones came apart and evaporated in a green fire.  
  
Jarce spun the blade and looked at his other two attackers, prepared to fight. One had the look of fire in its eyes and held its sword, ready to fight. The other just stared at Jarce, as if he had seen him before. Jarce too was ready to fight, but as he looked at the one's expression, his face melted to shock and understanding.  
  
"Krilton?" Jarce asked slowly as he let the sword drop into the brown earth at his side. The Stalfos nodded its head and slowly muttered, the word Jarce. "They did it," Jarce said in disbelief. "I can't believe they actually did it."  
  
Suddenly the third Stalfos cut into the conversation. "Kill this boy at once, Krilton," he demanded as he took a step forward.  
  
"I can't," the Stalfos named Krilton replied as he dropped his sword. "I can't kill an old friend." The second Stalfos raised his sword.  
  
"Then Bintrel has no more use for you," he screamed as he brought the sword down hard on Krilton's skull, shattering it into millions of tiny pieces. The remaining body of the Stalfos collapsed to the ground and evaporated into the fire that its companion did.  
  
"No!" Jarce screamed as he attacked with the sword. The remaining Stalfos brought up the crude, rusting, circular piece of metal that was its shield, and blocked the blow. It then swung at Jarce, but the human boy took a leap back, causing the blow to miss.  
  
The two combatants battled across the grassy field around the lake for several minutes. Jarce was the superior swordsman, but the weight of his newly acquired sword and the sheer strength of his enemy put him at a disadvantage. Just as things were looking grim for Jarce, a thundering was heard from the distance. The Stalfos looked at the source of the thunder, a group of riders swiftly coming to the aid of Zira and her companions. As it was distracted, Jarce swung at the hideous form before him with wild fury. The Stalfos turned back just in time to see the blow and barely react. He pulled his head, the destination of the sword, back just in time…almost. The tip of the gleaming, red sword clipped the lower jaw of the Stalfos, shattering the chin. The Stalfos gave out a cry of pain as it leaped away. He then glanced once again at the oncoming riders.  
  
"I'll finish you some other time," It said, it's deep voice rumbling as it prepared to pop back into the ground.  
  
"That damage to your chin will be the sign I use to distinguish you from the rest of the Stalfos I kill," Jarce said to himself as he watched the skeletal soldier vanish into the grassy earth. He then turned and surveyed the battlefield. It was a mess. Everyone except Zira, Kuria, and himself were lying on the ground pierced with arrows. One of the girls had been struck in the nose, causing it to cave in. Jarce turned away from the grisly scene only to see another; a soldier whose throat had been skimmed by an arrow and was still occasionally squirting blood out of a severed artery. The princess and her surviving friend desperately searched around their dead friends in hope that one would survive.  
  
"It's a waste of time," Jarce said as he focused his attention on the oncoming riders. The two girls realized it was true and sat on the blood stained ground and wept. Soon afterwards, the riders had arrived to help win the already ended battle.  
  
"Quickly, we must get the princess to the city," the soldier in charge of the group said as he dismounted. Zelda and Kuria moved to comply, but Jarce cut them off.  
  
"Free Hyrule never leaves a job undone," he said. "They're going to make another attempt very soon, and we need to get the princess to a secure location, no offense to Lake Town."  
  
"Then what do you propose we do?" Zira questioned. "We won't be able to reach the castle before sundown, even on horses."  
  
"We head to Stone City, and stay there for the night."  
  
"And Stone City has better security then Lake Town," one of the soldiers cut in.  
  
"Actually it does," Jarce said as he glared at the man. "We stay there for the night and ride to the castle the next morning. The decision is up to the princess though."  
  
Zira sat pondering for a long moment about what course of action she would take. Finally, she spoke up. "I've had two assassination attempts on me within a day of each other. I want to get to a secure sight, and I have heard Stone City is well defended. Therefore, you give us your two fastest horses. I'll ride with Kuria, and the boy will be our escort assuming he can ride a horse."  
  
"I can," Jarce said as he picked up a bow and some arrows and put them into a quiver. The rest of the group bustled around to obey the princess's order. Within five minutes, Zira's request had been carried out and two horses were galloping off toward the other major settlement made after Saruk's down fall.  
  
The three survivors of the attack reached the city that was carved out of the wall between the Gerudu valley and the Kokiri forest two hours after their departure from the sight of the ambush. Despite the city's small appearance from the front, it actually went deep into the mountain and the people even started to construct buildings on the top of the mountain. They were welcomed graciously, and despite their surprise arrival, were given luxurious accommodations.  
  
Zira and Kuria tried to process what had happened the chaotic and perilous day while trying to imagine it didn't happen while Jarce observed the construction on the top of the flat mountain. Already many houses had been built out of the stone carved from the mountains interiors. Many more of the bland structures were slowly taking shape as the construction workers worked hard to make homes for the growing population of the new city.  
  
The city's population was a curious one. Although it had very few non-humans, the people from many different lands had settled here after marching to war against Saruk giving many mixed race children. Many Gerudu warriors had also settled down and had children with men from other lands. Despite their racial differences, the people worked together to build the mighty city that Jarce was now observing.  
  
The greatest structure being built in the impressive city was the Grand Tower. Being made out of the finest rock in the mountain, the towering building would rival Hyrule Castle's highest tower in height and majesty. Although the tower was going to be a major mark of the city's greatness, it also had a much greater importance. On the top of it would be constructed a telescope that would look across the land and act as an early warning system.  
  
Jarce went back to his room after sundown. As he was about to enter his dark room, Kuria came walking down the hall.  
  
"Jarce," she said as she approached the young man. "Princess Zira wants to talk to you."  
  
"Where is she?" he replied as he glared at her.  
  
"In her room. She said you'd know where that is." Jarce began to walk toward the location of the princess's room that he did know the location of. Just as he was about to turn the corner, Kuria called to him. "Hey Jarce…thanks. Twice you saved the life of the princess and you saved mine once. I wouldn't be alive now if it wasn't for you, so I guess I'm grateful." Jarce acknowledged the thank you with a nod and turned the corner.  
  
Jarce quietly entered the princess's temporary quarters and looked around the large room. The princess was nowhere in sight. Then he saw her. She was standing on the balcony that looked out over the field. She was wearing a midnight blue nightgown that matched the color of the starlight sky. She was starring at the distant lights of the castle.  
  
Jarce stepped next to her and saw that she was crying. They both just stood there for a while in silence. Then she acknowledged the young warrior next to her.  
  
"Thank you for coming," she said softly, her voice reminding him that she was in emotional pain. "I just need someone to be with right now."  
  
"Why didn't you have Kuria stay with you?" he replied nonchalantly.  
  
"Because…it's different with her." The princess gave a sigh. "We're both going through the same thing. We lost a lot of friends out there today."  
  
"I lost my best friend out there today. My only friend out there today. My only living relative out there today. My twin out there today."  
  
"You mean that Stalfos was your twin?"  
  
"Yeah," Jarce said as he bowed his head. "He and all the other Stalfos where once men. They were only made Stalfos for fighting purposes."  
  
"And he was your only living relative?"  
  
"Yeah he was. Both my parents were only children. I never knew what happened to my grandparents other then they were killed. My dad was killed in a battle against the remnants of Saruk's army before I was born along with my three other brothers. Then my mom was killed when part of the tunnel system in this city collapsed."  
  
"So you were born here?"  
  
"Yeah. I lived here until Bintrel recruited my brother and me too. I thought you knew that since you knew I would know where you were."  
  
"No. I don't know why I said that to Kuria. How did you know I was here anyway?"  
  
"Because this was my parents room. They where important officials so they got a nice room like this. Since they were dead this room wouldn't be occupied anymore so it seemed the logical choice." Zira nodded her head and once again looked at the beautiful field below her. Then she resumed the conversation.  
  
"Why did you and your brother join Free Hyrule?"  
  
"It's because Bintrel came to us and said that our family was killed because of bad leadership. He said that if we joined him, we would destroy that leadership. He said the people would live better without kings and queens ruling their lives. I didn't really buy it, but my brother did, so I just went along with him. Now I regret the decision." With that, a bell rang. It continued ringing until it had sent out the loud noise twelve times.  
  
Suddenly Zira began to cry again, much worse then she had before. She sobbed uncontrollably for a minute before she regained enough self- control to talk.  
  
"Today's my 17th birthday," she said through her tears. "Me and my friends were going to celebrate it at Lake Town. We were going to swim, party, and have a good time. We were going to meet new people, make new friends, and maybe even get a boyfriend that we could love, even if it was just for a little while. Now it's all ruined. Now they're all dead."  
  
With that Jarce held her close in a deep embrace. She then lifted up her head and kissed him. They felt more then they had when they did this the night before. They finally had the part of them that had been missing. Jarce's strength gave the young princess a felling of security she had never felt before, while her youthfulness gave Jarce an excitement his tormenting childhood had never allowed. They had found true love. 


End file.
